Thursday, November 4, 2010

Artspace Liberti presents its November/December show, Congo’s Silent Scream, featuring a collection of emotive portrait images by lead photographer of Women in Warzones, Melanie Blanding.This exhibition runs from November 5 – December 20, 2010.There will be an opening reception on Friday, November 5th from 7:00 – 10:00pm featuring a musical performance by Will Chambers.

Melanie first traveled to eastern Congo in the summer of 2005 and was mortified by the number of women affected by monstrous acts of sexual violence.Thousands of women have been victims of this horrific violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since Hutu rebels fled Rwanda after the genocide in 1994.These rebels pillage, rape, steal and burn villages as targeted acts of war designed to terrorize and exploit the people while reaping massive financial gains for themselves.

As of 2005, Panzi Hospital, in Bukavu, South Kivu, had treated more than 3,600 women who were Victims of Sexual Violence, with no news of this being reported in the U.S. at the time.Melanie was determined to return to the Congo and share the stories of willing women.She created this collection of photographs when she returned to eastern Congo in 2006, in response to the great need for awareness and for these women’s stories to be heard.“Silence is their greatest enemy”, Melanie stated, and hopes that through her illuminating work, more people will join the mission to get these women the help they need to rebuildtheir lives.

The artist’s reception will be held on November 5, from 7:00-10:00pm at 2424 E York St in Philadelphia between Gaul and Cedar Sts.

While the gallery does not maintain regular viewing hours, visits can be scheduled by appointment.Please e-mail us artspaceliberti@gmail.com to arrange a visit.Viewing is also possible during Sunday church services between 10:00am – 1:15pm.

These three painters represent three different approaches to non-representational work but all share an affinity for the process of creation and the experiential nature of looking at art.

Matthew Sepielli- Pick It, 2009-2010

Matthew Sepielli’s paintings explore a “what-if” approach to creating art. What happens when you combine oil paint, Vaseline, glue, white out and other materials into a painting? Sepielli is interested in the relative “alchemy” of art- combining familiar materials in something unfamiliar, unknown and somewhat unknowable.To quote Sepielli: “It is my goal to make works whose physical structure and identity produces a meaning inherent to the moment one encounters the physical object of the work and one whose identity morphs from the moment one encounters the work, to the time one leaves it and remembers it and thus returns- though changed upon a second encounter.”

Stephen Evans- Beelzebub, 2010

Conversely, Stephen Evans’ work investigates a more minimal and calculated approach to painting. The application and development of the works are more deliberate and controlled. Evans taps into Kandinsky’s views of painting that there is an “initial, physical, and optical reaction to an image that takes place in the eye, but that it may also go further to touch on another level of a being: the emotional and spiritual level. I believe that the formal issues of art are perfect vehicles for the allegorical, and may further more leave the message to supersede the artwork itself.”

Timothy Gierschick II- Pique, 2010

Somewhere between these two approaches lies the work of Timothy Gierschick II. His paintings appear simultaneously calculated and improvised. His work is a slow call-and-response. Gierschick’s paintings are as much an internal dialogue as they are a conversation with the world. Like Sepielli, his materials are often recycled and repurposed. Prescription pads, found wood and latex paint are salvaged and reborn, combining seemingly unrelated materials. Within the structure of the work, color and shape combine and set next to one another in an Albers-like method of communication.

The artists’ reception will be held on September 3rd from 7:00-10:00PM at 2424 E York St in Philadelphia between Gaul and Cedar Sts.

While the gallery does not maintain regular viewing hours, visits can be scheduled by appointment. Please e-mail us at artspaceliberti@gmail.com to arrange a visit. Viewing is also possible during Sunday church services between 10:30AM-12:00.Artspace Liberti is a multi-discipline arts venue organized and maintained by liberti church east.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Artspace Liberti is proud to present a screening of the documentary, Women In War Zones. Please join us this Saturday, August 14, at 7:00PM for this gripping look into the sexual violence present in the Democratic Republic of Congo. You can also learn more about the opportunities available to help bring an end to this crisis.Women in War Zones was primarily created by Philadelphians Scott Blanding, Brad LaBriola and Greg Heller.

Below is a statement about the movie from the creators with links to their website and a YouTube trailer.This movie will directly tie into Artspace Liberti's November/December exhibition of Congo photos by Melanie Blanding.

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Some wars make headlines; some do not. In the messy aftermath of the Rwandan civil war,refugees fled to the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). As many as 100,000 of the Interahamwe, a militia partially responsible for the Rwandan genocide, crossed the border to avoid prosecution for acts against humanity. Thousands of women who have been raped and mutilated in the DRC can attest that the momentum to kill and maim is still in full swing despite a peace agreement signed in 2003. Nestled in the hills along the Rwandan border, Panzi Hospital stands as the last hope for many of Congo's victims of sexual violence.

"Women in War Zones" dives intimately into the lives of two young women who become sisters during their time of treatment at Panzi hospital. Helene and Bijo, 22 and 13, support each other in their fight and struggle to maintain hope and a sense of dignity as they come to grips with their violent and tragic past. The women, along with the staff of the hospital, look for hope in each other, God, and the upcoming presidential elections -- the first in over 40 years.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Thank you to everyone that was able to come out for our first First Friday reception. We were all overwhelmed and encouraged by your support. Inside Outside will be on display until June 26th by appointment only. Of course, the work will also be accessible on Sunday mornings from 10:30 until about noon as well.

We will be taking July and August off to run a kids camp and do some construction as well. We will return on the First Friday of September with a new show featuring work by Steve Evans, Tim Gierschick and Matthew Sepielli. We look forward to seeing you then.

Havens and Shimkonis are paired for both their similarities and their contrasts. Both use color photography to address the issues of space and the effects of humans on that space, be it subtle or harsh beautiful or destructive. These works do not document man at work, but instead capture the aftermath.

Mark Havens’ work explores areas outside of Philadelphia- the suburban townships and New Jersey landscape; edges of humanity that are most easily recaptured by nature. Interiors and exteriors are both on display chronicling what we do, how we live and where we retreat. Havens captures a Hopper-like silence- a palpable absence of sound. It is not a natural peace but a quiet only achieved by pushing away noise and activity.

By contrast, the body of work by Seth Shimkonis focuses on the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. Shimkonis is a resident of the neighborhood and his work offers up a loving devotion to this part of town, recording both the beautiful, worn paths of this established community and the subtle shifts that his home undergoes, be it by weather or light or time. His work is a visual poem dedicated to his urban surroundings.

The artists’ reception will be held on June 4 from 7:00-10:00PM at 2424 E. York St in Philadelphia located between Gaul and Cedar Sts.

While the gallery does not maintain regular summer hours, visits can be scheduled by appointment. Please e-mail us at artspaceliberti@gmail.com to arrange a visit.artspace liberti is a multi-discipline arts venue organized and maintained by liberti church east.

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Performing at the reception will be Turning Violet Violet, described by the Philadelphia Weekly as “an indie outfit around a couple of years now that merges chamber-pop, jazzy textures, and quirky, literate storytelling in sharp and elegant arrangements.”Also performing will be singer-songwriter, Old Love.